This time we rented a car for the weekend because (get this) it was
cheaper to rent a car and drive it to Dublin from the airport and leave
it for the weekend then drive it back than the cost of a taxi to do the
same!
The taxi fares from the airport are long known as a complete rip-off -
it is one of the few capitals in Europe that doesn't have a rail link to
the city center. I am surprised that rental isn't more expensive. If
you're actually based in Wales, you could also consider driving to
Holyhead and getting the ferry over (your British insurance will cover
your driving over here without any extra paperwork -- one of the many
advantages of the EU ;-)). You could even leave your car in Holyhead
and go across as a foot passenger (the Dart [metro] would take you from
Dun Laoghaire into the City Center in about 15 minutes).
If you do fly over again, check out the Aircoach which
goes from the airport to verious major hotels in the city center and
south side - it is faster and more reliable than the local buses, but
far cheaper than renting (if you're not going beyond Dublin).
The only signs that weren't in metric were those for height and width.
These had both imperial and metric. I wonder if the reason is to fend
off any compensation claims for damaged vehicles. These days of
'compensation culture' as Prince Charles has called it.
Can't remember seeing too many width signs, certainly no imperial ones.
Heights are normally dual (as are many (most?) in the UK). Probably
because a bridge strike or jammed car is more serious than a journey
that took slightly longer or shorter than was believed !
Some here are more interested in the usage of measures 'in real life'
rather than via mandate (reality versus rules). We had to ask three
separate police officers (Garda) directions somewhere and each one used
hundreds of yards when talking walking distance.
Well, you did pick a weekend when the city was full of Welsh rugby
tourists so they were probably getting quite a few queries. A useful
comparison would be to do the test again with a French accent when their
team were playing.
Seriously though - there is a fair mixture of imperial and metric units
used in speech. A lot depends on whether you are in a remote rural area
(changes are a lot slower there), and how precise people are trying to
be. Incidentally, I asked directions outside Euston station three years
ago and got a "hundred metres" response from a guy with a strong cockney
accent (i.e. not an immigrant), but no doubt I'd have got a different
answer from someone else. As some Northern Ireland politician said:
"there are no mixed areas - just areas in transition". We are just a
bit further down the way than you are.
Also taxi drivers
spoke in miles when we asked about various things.
Remember that taxi drivers have been dealing with mile based fares up to
2005, so it would have been pretty ingrained.
I wonder if
it's simply down to 'convenient talking' - ie that 'yard' is single
syllable to 'metre's' two.
Actually you may well be on to something here. People here who refer to
yards (particularly if they are under 50) have never been taught how
big one is, so they may well be saying 100 yards to indicate a distance
of 100 m. So it is quite possible 'yard' is simply a monosyllabic alias
for meter, and it would gradually become a localized (and rare) slang
like the French 'livre' or German 'pfund', which are now slang for 500g.
Tom Wade
